In a significant ruling, the Calcutta High Court on Wednesday commuted the death sentence of a man convicted of murdering his ex-girlfriend by stabbing her 45 times, ruling that the case does not fall within the “rarest of rare” category and that the convict is not beyond reformation.
The verdict came in the case of The State of West Bengal v. Susanta Chowdhury, where a Bench comprising Justices Debangsu Basak and Md Shabbar Rashidi overturned the trial court’s death penalty verdict and imposed a life sentence instead—without the possibility of remission for 40 years from the date of arrest.
“Taking into consideration the entire facts and circumstances of the present case including the ratio of the authorities relating to death penalty as also sentence of life imprisonment without remission, in our view, interest of justice would be subserved by commuting the death penalty to one of life imprisonment without the possibility of remission for another 40 years from the date of arrest of the appellant,” the Bench ruled.
Chowdhury was convicted for murdering his 21-year-old ex-girlfriend in May 2022. According to witness accounts, he repeatedly stabbed her near her hostel while she offered no resistance. Reports revealed that he had purchased a toy gun in advance to deter any intervention from bystanders.
Despite the horrific nature of the crime, the Court highlighted several mitigating factors. It noted that Chowdhury had no prior criminal history and that the prosecution had failed to establish any intent to create public fear.
“Similarly, so far as the criminal test or the mitigating circumstances are concerned, we are not in a position to arrive at a finding that it is 0% as against the appellant. Age of the appellant is in favour of the appellant. The nature of crime cannot be classified as rarest of rare cases,” the Court stated.
The Court was deciding both the death sentence reference and Chowdhury’s appeal against his conviction. He and the victim had previously been in a relationship after meeting at a coaching centre, but the relationship had ended after allegations of harassment by Chowdhury.
While the commutation may trigger public debate, the Court’s reasoning emphasizes the legal principle that capital punishment is to be reserved for the gravest and most exceptional cases.
Case: The State of West Bengal vs Susanta Chowdhury – Available on LAWFYI.IO
